The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:
The New Generation
Chapter 4
Daytime at the Mansion
Joe was pulled out of his dreams by what appeared to be a noisy racket.
The sun was shining, a new day had arrived… and there was the sound of the piano echoing through the halls and into his room.
He had to admit, the playing was very good, but he hated classical music with a passion.
"Shaw, if this is your idea of an alarm, clock, it's not a very good one," he grumbled.
He decided he wasn't going to get up until the music stopped.
After ten seconds…
"Ah, bugger it."
Joe pushed himself up from his bed and rubbed his eyes, all the while thinking, "Who in their right minds would be up this early banging on that hell instrument… ?"
Still in his pyjamas, Joe wandered along the corridor towards the double doors at the end of the hallway. He pushed the doors open.
The room was a vast chamber, designed with good acoustics in mind. ("Pity they didn't make it soundproof," he thought.) There was an ancient grand piano in the center of the room, and sitting there was Jekyll with his eyes closed, banging out the last chords of the song.
Joe gaped at him.
"Bloody hell, Jekyll, are you playing in your sleep?"
Jekyll immediately opened his eyes. He had just noticed Joe.
"No, I'm very much awake, thank you very much for asking. I was simply… rather involved… in my playing," Jekyll explained.
Joe gave him a look that said – who could possibly lose himself in classical music?
"Yeah. You know, keep doing that and that bloody thing's gonna fall apart."
"Yes, well… I suppose I shall have to take my chances, then," Jekyll replied evenly. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He turned back to the piano and picked out the quiet, poignant melody of the Moonlight Sonata.
"Why couldn't you have played this instead when I was asleep… ?" Joe grumbled.
He left the music chamber and returned to wandering about aimlessly. A couple of doors past his room, right there in the doorway, stood Michael. There was someone he could talk to!
On his way towards Michael, he saw Judy and Amy walk past his mate. "Hey, Michael," they said. What happened next was something Joe would never let Michael forget. Michael gave a little bow and said, "Good day, Miss Nemo." And then he stood there sort of gaping at Judy as the girls walk away.
Joe sauntered over, grinning. "Fancy her, don't you?" he chuckled, nudging Michael.
"Ugh… morning breath…" Michael said, edging away from Joe.
"Oi, you've got dog breath too, mate." Joe shuffled into Michael's room, leaving Michael at the doorway. "Hey, don't change the subject. You better be fancying Judy, 'cause if I catch you eying my girl like that – and don't you say you weren't –" he said as Michael opened his mouth to argue. Michael shut it. "If I catch you eying my girl, I'll prolly job you."
"No… I wasn't. Eying. Your. Girl," Michael said. "You've got a right nerve to suggest that too. I thought you were a mate. And hey, I don't think you can call her your girl yet, as we all know for a fact that she hates your guts."
"I am. I am your mate. I's just playing around. All right, you don't want to talk about your thing for Jude. Don't matter." Joe shrugged, and looked around Michael's room. "Same old sorry dump, innit? My room's the same, only smaller, I think."
"Yeah. At least you don't have spiders crawling in the corners."
"You got spiders? Wicked!"
Jekyll finished up his song. He looked up.
There was Amy and Judy sitting in the audience. When he had finished, they stood up and applauded.
Jekyll was gratified. He had never had a standing ovation before, even if it was just from two people.
He stood up and walked towards them.
"That was lovely," Judy told him. "Absolutely wonderful," Amy added.
Jekyll gave a wary smile. "Thank you." He looked at them. "Is there any reason why you came? Apart from listening to my playing, I mean."
"Um, yes," Amy said rather hurriedly. "Mr. Shaw said to get you all down for breakfast."
"Ah. Right." Jekyll headed for the door. "I shall see you in the dining hall, then." He left.
The girls walked back to Michael's room and stopped at the doorway.
"Boys?" Judy asked, pushing the door open and peering inside. No reply. They entered.
"Where on earth are they?" Amy asked.
In a completely random moment, Joe jumped out of the closet. "BOO!"
Amy took a step back, startled. "Joe, you moron, why'd you do that for?" she asked angrily.
"Oi, I'd like to ask you what you're doing in Michael's room." Joe folded his arms.
"We're here to tell you and Michael that Mr. Shaw said breakfast is ready," Judy said.
Michael walked in. "What's going on here? I go to the loo for one minute and here you lot are, having a party of some sort?"
"No," Joe said. "No party. I hope Amy wasn't coming in here to party." He glared at Amy.
"Why're you so possessive, Joe? We're not even involved… !"
"You may say that, Amy love, but if you're taken, I won't have a chance anymore, will I?"
"You never had a chance, Skinner."
He scowled at her.
As they left the room, Joe muttered, "Watch out, love, I'm going to prove you wrong some day. Just you watch."
On the way downstairs, they met up with Bob and the usual fare – the arguments, gossips, discussions – took place as they had breakfast.
Thus went a rather uneventful first day at the mansion.